Jonny Bairstow calls for Test cricket's preservation

I want to play all formats for England: Jonny Bairstow

England wicket-keeper batsman –Jonny Bairstow has commented on the traditional format of the game –Test cricket, calling for its preservation to bring back its celebrated time in the modern era.

According to a report in Cricbuzz, Bairstow told reports, “It’s the traditional game, it’s like taking fifteens rugby away and just playing sevens rugby. It’s something we’ve definitely got to cherish and play and I want to go on and play as many Tests as I can because you get remembered for how many Tests you’ve played.”

Bairstow also doesn’t believe in giving up white-ball cricket, saying “I want to play all formats for England – I have put a lot of time and effort into white and red-ball cricket over a long period of time to get into the teams and play for England.”

While explaining the reason behind falling support for Test, the English keeper said that the lucrative T20 tournaments around the world are also responsible for the traditional formats’ declining.

He signed off by saying, “Test cricket is huge, and if we’re not careful then there are going to be more and more people that do it give up the red ball, because you’ve got lucrative tournaments around the world that people now can go off and earn a heck of a lot of money for five weeks work when the strain and stress is less on the body of bowling fours overs comparatively to bowling 24 overs in a day in Test cricket. So whatever way it is we can preserve Test cricket and go forward with that is really important.”

Bairstow's recent Test outing was the Ashes series against Australia. He scored 306 runs from nine innings ar an average of 34 and a strike rate of nearly49. England, however, lost the Ashes urn 4-0.